With him goes a coruscating era in Hindustani classical music. For Pandit Ravi Shankar embodied an entire genre of melody, one that he not only recommended to the world outside India but also worked assiduously in giving it the deft touch it needed, his own. It was the sitar through which he spoke. And he spoke not through a laboured demonstration of determination to master the art, but through a spontaneous display of emotions that music often brings up in the one who lives and breathes it.

Jagannath University (JnU) authorities yesterday expelled three students and cancelled certificates of two others for their involvement in the murder of Bishwajit Das during the opposition's roadblock on Sunday.

Justice ATM Fazle Kabir is likely to return to International Crimes Tribunal-1, this time as its chairman, while Justice Obaidul Hassan is to lead Tribunal-2 where Justice Md Mojibur Rahman Miah could join.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) yesterday urged the BNP-led alliance to withdraw the eight-hour hartal called for today and proposed holding dialogues to resolve political issues.

The BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance is enforcing an eight-hour countrywide hartal from 6:00am today protesting against the arrest of BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and demanding restoration of the caretaker government system.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc Chief Executive Officer Mike Duke said he sees no conflict between paying low prices to suppliers that source merchandise from overseas and being able to maintain safe conditions at garment factories.

The monthly pay order (MPO) facilities of three principals of three prominent non-government city schools have been suspended as they failed to give proper answer about returning or adjusting the extra money they charged for admission.

Western and Arab nations sympathetic to Syria's uprising against President Bashar al-Assad gave full political recognition to the opposition yesterday, reflecting a hardening consensus that the uprising might be nearing a tipping point.

Editorial

Reactions from the fathers of the three among the killers of Biswajit Das have exposed how the politics of the day has been brutalising the young generation. Little wonder, seeing what monsters have been made out of their sons, they disowned their children outright. And as any responsible fathers would do, they wanted punishment to be meted out to their errant sons.

If we have learnt one thing from the chaos of this past week, it is that no one is safe. During any protest, blockade or hartal, anyone can be attacked, injured and even killed. Innocent pedestrians, naïve foreigners and, yes, even the media people, who were manhandled while discharging their duties. This became apparent in the torching of a private television channel vehicle during Sunday's blockade and the assault of photojournalists from two national English dailies in Tuesday's hartal. And, while the vehicle was set ablaze by pro-blockade, opposition activists, the photojournalists were attacked by no one but a policeman. This goes to show that not only is no one not safe, but that no one is safe from anyone -- not the opposition's pro-hartal supporters, not the government's anti-hartal activists, and not even the law enforcing agencies who are delegated the duty of maintaining law and order and safety of all citizens.

Sports

Following the end of the National Cricket League (NCL) this week, members of the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) ad-hoc committee are working on a second four-day tournament which will be contested between four franchises. The tournament is expected to fill the free time in Bangladesh's domestic calendar that is available till the second week of January, after which the players will be busy with the second edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) T20.

Down in the dumps after back-to-back defeats, India's under-fire cricketers will have to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and compete on equal footing against a confident England in the perform-or-perish fourth and final Test commencing on Thursday.

Team BJMC posted their first victory in their third match of the Grameenphone Bangladesh Premier League when they handed a single-goal defeat to hosts Feni Soccer Club at the Shaheed Salam Stadium in Feni yesterday.

Faridpur will take on Rajshahi in the first semifinal of Agrani Bank 23rd National Youth Hockey Championship at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium today. Faridpur confirmed their semifnal berth yesterday as they thrashed Chittagong 11-2, thanks to four goals from national striker Moinul Islam Koushik and three from Sarwar Hossain.

Angelo Mathews has expressed enthusiasm for the leadership role and appears ready to take over the captaincy once Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka's current Test captain, steps down. Jayawardene accepted the post reluctantly in January and has seemed eager to be rid of the reins ever since. He has hinted he will step down after the tour of Australia as long as Sri Lanka avert disaster there, and his deputy's apparent willingness to take over will only make that move easier.

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels it is difficult for Indian selectors to give any sort of retirement advice to Sachin Tendulkar and, at the end, the batting maestro himself will have to do some assessment like Ricky Ponting did.

Shuvo Khandoker clinched the men's singles title of the Knit Concern Group Badminton Tournament after beating former national junior champion Muhammad Sajjad Ullah 2-1 in the final at the Knit Concern Gymnasium in Narayanganj yesterday.

T&T Club of Motijheel defeated Badda Jagoroni Sangsad 1-0 in the lone fixture of Popular Life Insurance Senior Division Football League at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur yesterday. Shahed scored the all-important goal in the 55th minute. Mahakhali Ekadash will take on Dhaka Wanderers Club in today's fixture at the same venue.

Arsenal suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in their history as League Two minnows Bradford City clinched a stunning triumph on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the League Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic fired a superb hattrick to take his league leading scoring tally to 17 goals as Paris Saint-Germain closed within two points of leaders Lyon with a clinical 4-0 victory over Valenciennes here on Tuesday.

The relationship between Bangladesh and India is an extraordinary one, for it was achieved at the cost of sacrifice, said Captain (retd) AB Tajul Islam, state minister for liberation war affairs, at an event in the capital yesterday.

The government has urged the United States to initiate talks on a bilateral air services agreement, which would pave the way for Biman Bangladesh Airlines to resume operating direct flights to America.

With the announcement of the schedule for Chittagong-12 by-election slated for January 17, there is widespread speculation among the people of Anwara and Paschim Patiya as to who are to vie for the parliamentary seat.

Anti-liberation forces have no right to live in Bangladesh because they worked with the external force during the country's Liberation War in 1971, said Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir at a discussion yesterday.

The government will compensate two drivers of a CNG-run auto-rickshaw and a pick-up van who sustained burn injures during the recent road blockade and countrywide hartal enforced by the BNP-led 18 party alliance.

A Jhalakathi court yesterday deferred for the fourth time the hearing on accepting the charge sheet against college student Limon Hossain, who was maimed by Rab, in one of the two cases filed by the elite force for alleged obstruction to performing their duties.

The High Court yesterday summoned Rajuk Chairman Nurul Huda and two others before it on January 8 on charge of not executing its order that asked them to stop unauthorised construction of a structure in the capital's Mohammadpur.

All the examinations scheduled for today under National University (NU) as well as different schools across the country have been postponed due to eight-hour hartal called by BNP-led 18-party alliance.

Eskander Ali Sardar, former public prosecutor and father of Mahabub Hossain Samrat, staff reporter of private television channel ntv, died of cardiac arrest at Gopalganj General Hospital yesterday. He was 75.

National

A newly introduced high-yielding variety of orange has seen successful cultivation in the district, following research by Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) at its Hill Agricultural Research Station in Khagrachhari Sadar upazila.

Two groups of teachers at Islamic University (IU) got locked into a scuffle at the campus over the ongoing issue of removal of the university vice chancellor, pro vice chancellor and treasurer yesterday (Wednesday).

A ten-day long Khulna Divisional Book fair-2012 will begin today at Circuit House ground in the city. Central Public Library (CPL) under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs has organised the fair. A colourful procession led by Divisional Commissioner Md Abdul Zalil was brought out in the city yesterday ahead of the fair. A total of 80 book stalls have been set up at the fair. The fair will remain open from 3:00pm to 9:00pm everyday.

A construction worker was killed as the boundary wall of a house collapsed on him at Khodaitoli village in Burichong upazila yesterday morning. The deceased was identified as Abdul Alim, 45, son of Adal Khan of the village. Police said Alim, who had been working at the house of one Ohab Master of the village for the last three days, died on the spot as the wall fell on him at about 10:00am.

A mobile court sentenced a teenage boy to six months' imprisonment for stalking a schoolgirl in Fulchhari upazila on Monday, reports our correspondent. Stalker Helaluddin is a class nine student of Fulchari Pilot High School. Police said Helaluddin used to tease the girl, classmate of the boy, on her way to school and home. On information, locals caught Helaluddin and handed him over to police in the afternoon when he was teasing the girl on her way to home. He was then produced before the court, led by upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Mehdi-ul-Saheed.

At least four houses were gutted and two people sustained burn injuries as a fire broke out at Puizar village in Pangsha upazila early Tuesday. The injured were identified as Shariful Islam, 50, owner of a burnt house, and his son Foysal Islam, 20. Fazlul Haque Mandal, station officer of Pangsha fire service, said the fire originated from an electric short circuit at a house and soon engulfed three other adjacent houses. On information, a firefighting unit from the upazila headquarters rushed in and doused the blaze after three hours of frantic efforts, he said. The injured were admitted to the upazila health complex and then shifted to Faridpur Medical College and Hospital as their condition deteriorated. The affected house owners claimed that the loss caused by the fire could go up to Tk 20 lakh.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in a drive seized two pistols from Andolpur village in Chaugacha upazila on Monday afternoon. Being informed, some arms traders were staying in the area to sell some firearms, a team raided the village and seized the pistols in an abandoned condition. However, none was arrested. A case was filed in this connection.

International

A controversial referendum on a new constitution in Egypt due to start Saturday looks set to further split the country after the opposition called for a 'no' vote and imposed conditions that could yet result in its boycott.

Almost half of Gujarat would exercise their franchise tomorrow for 87 seats in the first phase of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly elections where 1.81 crore voters will decide the fate of 846 candidates.

After weeks of anticipation, Pope Benedict sent his first tweet yesterday. "Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart."

The Pakistani Taliban has said that it will carry out more attacks on "secular" political parties like the ANP and MQM, warning people to stay away from their rallies, a day after a blast outside an ANP gathering injured about 10 people.

Arts & Entertainment

Labelled the “Godfather of World Music”, Pandit Ravi Shankar undertook an extraordinary journey from the banks of Ganges to the heart of the West, mesmerising them with Indian ragas and partnering with musical greats like Beatles' George Harrison and Yehudi Menuhin.

Murtaja Baseer is considered one of the leading painters of Bangladesh who has established a unique style. Like his father, noted linguist and educationist Dr. Mohammad Shahidullah, Baseer is a powerhouse of talent.

Saffronart -- the largest online auction house in South Asia with a global presence in India, UK and USA -- has launched a 'tastemaker' sale recently, with Nadia Samdani as their first tastemaker under a new initiative called 'The Story', according to a press release.

A four-day group photo exhibition, titled “Cascading Dreams”, was held at the Drik Gallery in Dhanmondi, Dhaka from December 9 to 12. The exhibition was organised by WaterAid, in association with Shiree. It featured stories of people at the grassroots level, their struggles and successes, dreams and realities, joys and sorrows, dignity and empowerment -- in relation to water, sanitation, hygiene (WaSH) and poverty alleviation.

Padma Shri Niranjan Goswami, one of the pioneers of modern mime in the subcontinent, held a daylong mine workshop in Tangail recently. Anandapath School in Tangail organised the workshop at Salma Bhuiyan Memorial Stage of the institute in the town.

Cultural organisations of Manikganj recently accorded a reception to the family members of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam at Tewta, the birthplace of the poet's wife Promila Debi, under Shivalaya upazila. They also accorded a reception to the members of Churulia Nazrul Academy in West Bengal.

I wonder whether the Lok Sabha, the lower House, can last its full tenure till May 2014. The government has been in a minority since the Trinamool Congress of West Bengal withdrew its support a few months ago. The debate on the government decision to allow 51% to direct Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail showed how close Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's victory was -- 253 against 217 -- in the House attended by 471 members.

Inder Kumar Gujral, a former prime minister and foreign minister of India is no more. In his passing Bangladesh has lost a true friend whose support remained steadfast whether he was holding public office, sitting on the opposition benches in Parliament or just a private citizen.